American ballot box mid 19th century

Richard Franklin Bensel0521831016, 9780521831017, 9780511216077

Unlike modern elections, the American polling place of the mid-nineteenth century was thoroughly endowed with symbolic meaning for individuals who otherwise would not have had the least interest in politics. This made the polls exciting and encouraged men to vote at far higher rates than they do today. Men who approached a polling place were met by agents of the major political parties. They treated the voters with whiskey, gave them petty bribes, and urged that they should be loyal to their ethnic and religious communities. As reported in the eyewitness accounts of ordinary voters, the polls were almost always crowded, noisy, and often, violent.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Half-title……Page 3
Title……Page 5
Copyright……Page 6
Contents……Page 7
Preface……Page 9
1 Introduction……Page 21
ELECTION CASES……Page 24
THE PRACTICE OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN DEMOCRACY……Page 28
THE PHYSICAL SETTING OF THE POLLING PLACE……Page 29
PARTY TICKETS……Page 34
MAJOR CONSEQUENCES OF THE TICKET SYSTEM……Page 35
ENFORCEMENT OF LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTING……Page 37
OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK……Page 45
2 Structure and Practice of Elections……Page 46
COMMON ASPECTS OF THE AMERICAN POLLING PLACE……Page 50
Opening and Closing the Polls……Page 55
Selection of Election Officials……Page 57
The Ballot Boxes……Page 58
Poll Books……Page 60
Poll Taxes……Page 62
On the Marking of Tickets……Page 63
Counting the Tickets……Page 69
Viva Voce Voting……Page 74
Liquor, Corruption, and Bribery……Page 77
Money and Patronage as the Currency of Politics……Page 83
Economic Intimidation……Page 97
On the Poor Farm……Page 99
CONCLUSION……Page 104
3 Social Construction of Identity in Eastern Rural Communities……Page 106
RESIDENCY……Page 107
Age……Page 113
MENTAL COMPETENCY……Page 126
Racial Identity……Page 143
CONCLUSION……Page 157
4 Ethno-Cultural Stereotypes and Voting in Large Cities……Page 158
ETHNICITY……Page 160
MULTIPLE VOTING IN URBAN PRECINCTS……Page 176
COLONIZATION……Page 179
OUT-OF-PRECINCT VOTING……Page 186
BALTIMORE ELECTIONS……Page 188
CONCLUSION……Page 205
5 Frontier Democracy……Page 207
Forts, Troopers, and Men on the Move……Page 208
Federal Officials……Page 215
Residency on the Frontier……Page 221
Establishing a County Seat……Page 230
The Territory of Utah……Page 232
CONCLUSION……Page 236
6 Loyalty Oaths, Troops, and Elections during the Civil War……Page 237
State Militia and Loyalty Oaths……Page 239
The Seventh Congressional District of Missouri……Page 247
The Sixth Congressional District of Missouri……Page 260
The Fifth Congressional District of Missouri……Page 264
Kentucky……Page 273
Federal Troops in Garrisons……Page 282
Voting in the Field……Page 287
The Draft……Page 294
CONCLUSION……Page 301
APPENDIX: NOTES ATTACHED TO THE MILITIA ENROLLMENT IN ST. FRANCOIS TOWNSHIP, ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY, MISSOURI, IN 1862……Page 302
7 Conclusion……Page 306
IMPLICATIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT……Page 313
Index……Page 319